Spaghetti Vongole

Ingredients:

500g Vongole

5 cherry tomatoes, blanched, skinned, pitted and chopped)

2 birds eye chilies, finely chopped

100ml Dry White Wine

4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped

300g Spaghetti Pasta

Half bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Serves 2/3

A dish that is a must when ever you can get your hands on some vongole. An Italian classic, which is only fit to be eaten in a large bowl, piled sky high with pasta, vongole and showered with parsley, slammed in the middle of the table for everyone to dig int o. Paired with a crisp white wine, it’s Italian cooking and eating done right.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the spaghetti, giving a quick stir and leave to cook for 8 minutes or what is indicated on the pasta packet.

While the pasta is boiling, heat olive oil in a fry pan over a low/medium heat, adding the garlic and chilies, frying gently until soft. Once the garlic has fried for around 2-3 minutes and become soft, increase the heat to medium/high, adding the vongole and stir, coating each shell with the oil and cook for 30 seconds. Add white wine and half the parsley, along with some fresh cracked pepper, while also increasing to a high heat. Cover the pan with a lid for roughly 2 minutes or until the vongole shells open, indicating that they are cooked.

Once the shells have opened, remove from the heat (while still keeping the sauce in the pan) and place them in a separate plate and lower the heat to reduce the sauce created from the wine, olive oil and sea water released from the vongole. Add half 1/4 cup of pasta water to the sauce and simmer until the pasta is cooked. Add cracked pepper and salt if needed (taste before adding salt, it may not be needed due to the salt from the vongole and salted pasta water).

Once the pasta is cooked, transfer the cooked pasta and vongole into the sauce and add the remaining parsley and tomatoes, ensuring everything is well incorporated.

For serving, I suggest transferring the spaghetti into a large bowl, ensuring the vongole is not hidden underneath the mountain of pasta, and garnish with some freshly chopped parsley and a solid lug of extra virgin olive oil, and a nice cold crisp, aromatic white wine.